{"id":150091,"date":"2025-08-16T09:00:23","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T09:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/150091\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T09:00:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T09:00:23","slug":"lakers-announce-former-head-coach-pat-riley-will-be-immortalized-with-statue-ahead-of-game-against-celtics-nbc-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/150091\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers announce former head coach Pat Riley will be immortalized with statue ahead of game against Celtics \u2013 NBC Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was always something cinematic about Pat Riley<\/a>. The slicked-back hair. The Armani suits. The glare that could cut through the roar of a packed Forum. He wasn\u2019t just a coach\u2014he was the face of the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> Showtime Era, the man who orchestrated basketball\u2019s most exhilarating theater. Now, more than three decades after his final game at the Lakers\u2019 helm, Riley will take his place in bronze alongside the legends he once guided to glory.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Lakers announced Thursday that Riley\u2019s statue will be unveiled on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, at Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena<\/a>. Fittingly, the curtain will rise before the Lakers host their eternal rivals, the Boston Celtics\u2014a team Riley clashed with in some of the most unforgettable Finals in NBA history.<\/p>\n

Riley becomes the eighth Lakers figure honored with a statue, joining Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O\u2019Neal, Elgin Baylor, and broadcaster Chick Hearn. It\u2019s a fraternity of icons, and Riley\u2019s resume stands shoulder to shoulder with them all.<\/p>\n

From 1981 to 1990, Riley\u2019s teams won with a swagger that defined an era. He compiled a staggering 533-194 regular-season record (.733), captured four NBA championships (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988), and turned fast breaks into art. The Lakers never won fewer than 50 games under his command, hitting the 60-win mark five times. In his final season in Los Angeles, he was named NBA Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n

But Riley\u2019s Laker story didn\u2019t begin on the sideline. He was traded to Los Angeles in 1970, playing five seasons as a scrappy guard, and became part of the 1971-72 championship team that rattled off a record 33 straight victories\u2014a streak that still stands today. Later, as an assistant coach, he helped guide the team to two more titles before stepping into the spotlight himself.<\/p>\n

His rivalry with Boston\u2019s Red Auerbach and K.C. Jones in the 1980s brought the league to new heights. Magic and Kareem versus Bird and McHale wasn\u2019t just basketball\u2014it was a cultural event. Riley was the man in the middle, commanding Showtime like a conductor with his orchestra.<\/p>\n

Today, Riley is better known as the architect of the Miami Heat, where he serves as president and minority owner. His basketball journey\u2014spanning six decades, nine championships as a coach and executive, and 1,210 career coaching wins (fifth-most in NBA history)\u2014cements him as one of the game\u2019s immortals.<\/p>\n

But on Feb. 22, the spotlight returns to Los Angeles, to the purple-and-gold chapter of his life that made him a legend. The unveiling against the Celtics is no coincidence. It\u2019s the rivalry that defined his coaching career, and the perfect backdrop for a man whose legacy is measured in banners, trophies, and memories that will live forever in Laker lore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was always something cinematic about Pat Riley. The slicked-back hair. The Armani suits. The glare that could…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,3141,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-150091","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","13":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115037630535773414","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}